I think the subject of Education in the UK is going to be highly contested within the next few months and as it is a prominent feature on this blog I thought I would give a response to Liam's article with a bit more prowess then a comment.
The reason that some subjects are considered soft is purely economical, due to the fact that educational institutions in the UK, such as universities are seen primarily as businesses which in a way has superseded the importance of education and indeed free thinking.
Plus saying that it is the universities which perceive certain subjects as hard or soft isn't entity the case as it also is apparent in the opinion of the individual to what they consider as such. This subject comes up in public and political discourse, so as well as Gove commenting upon what he believes are hard and soft subjects, people in general have their own view on what is a worthwhile degree (or qualification) to obtain. Personally I have come under attack by people in general for studying Sociology which is considered soft by many but the point is that I am perfectly capable of studying a "hard" subject and have qualifications to do so, I am just not interested in them as much as Sociology.
This isn't taken into consideration by Gove and he seems uninterested in what people find interesting or personally worthwhile and instead would like individuals to spend their time studying a subject which will benefit the economy over their preferred experience or enjoyment.
The fact that there remains this ethos that "if you do "vocational" subjects, then don't be surprised if your application is rejected", is inherently derived from modernity and an overemphasis on capitalism as the more economically astute subjects are given a higher status over ones which aren't. This to me seems a particularly robotic way to approach education as the system in place to educate is comparable to a production line where we all are manufactured to benefit the economy ('hard' products) and the ones who are misshapen or impractical ('soft' products) are disregarded and sold as a cheaper price.
I am not a product and I personally find Gove's overall approach to education offensive especially as it is nothing more than a relic of a time gone by... this is 2011 not 1950.
I agree, I was always told that out of my four A-Level subjects (Maths, Biology, Chemistry, and Psychology) that Psychology was the 'softest subject'. In fact, I found that aside from chemistry, psychology was the subject I found most difficult. I'm not going to claim it is harder than the others, as how hard you find a particular subject is down to personal learning styles and interests.
ReplyDeleteTo brand some subjects as worthless is irresponsible. By all means, let children know which subjects will benefit them at university, but to grade whole schools on narrow criteria is stupid and dangerous.